Express try to carry momentum into a new season

Statistically, it's too early to call the Elmira Express' success a trend, but there are some indicators that make the varsity football program difficult to ignore entering the third season of combined sports in Elmira.

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By CHRIS GILLcmgill@the-leader.com

The Leader

By CHRIS GILLcmgill@the-leader.com

Posted Sep. 3, 2013 at 7:30 PM

By CHRIS GILLcmgill@the-leader.com
Posted Sep. 3, 2013 at 7:30 PM

ELMIRA, N.Y.

Statistically, it's too early to call the Elmira Express' success a trend, but there are some indicators that make the varsity football program difficult to ignore entering the third season of combined sports in Elmira.

Last season the team won four more game than it did in 2011, and while a 5-5 record hardly seems like a lot to brag about, it was how the Express finished that stunned Section IV. After Week 5 last season, Elmira was 1-4 and getting outscored 36.8-21.6 per game. Then came a 32-20 win against Vestal, and a 47-8 victory against Ithaca at home and Elmira closed out the season with a flurry – going 4-1, including Section IV semifinal road win against Corning.

Carrying that momentum over nine months during an offseason sounds difficult, if not improbable. However, the Express return all but five players from the 2012 squad – many of whom have been part of the combined program since inception.

"Last year, hopefully, we gained some experience and some expectations. We had a difficult stretch through part of the schedule, but hard work and staying with it pays off in the end," said second-year coach Jim McCauley. "Hopefully we're going to keep that going this year and the kids have been great about hustling and finishing every drill. We're going to keep that mentality."

As so far, the players have responded.

"We just kept working hard, working in the weight room, coming up here on our own doing extra stuff to get better," said Jerry McPeak, Elmira's blinding-quick running back who ran for 1,355 yards on 166 carries for 18 touchdowns – as a sophomore.

McPeak was the catalyst for Elmira's furious finish that ended in the sectional title game, a place where no Elmira-based football team had been in several years. Last season was a definite upturn for a program still trying to define itself among the Section IV titans like Union-Endicott, Binghamton and Corning.

"More people are coming out each year, our record is getting better the more experience we get with the combined teams," McPeak said.

Offered senior Kevin Snyder, another speedy running back in Elmira's confounding misdirection offensive scheme, "Not just in practice and in sports, but we're seeing more people from Southside and EFA hanging out more."

The Express teams are beginning to change the very culture in Elmira.

Ultimately, what defines Elmira athletics is the football program – which can happen when a Heisman Trophy winner hails from Chemung County's largest city. This season, the Express, which take their title from Ernie Davis' nickname, are hopeful for a return to glory with an arsenal of quick backs on offense and a defense that 10 fewer points in the last five games of 2012.

There is no secret to what the Express' game plan is this year, it's more a matter of how other teams are going to stop it.

Page 2 of 2 - "Good football teams can stop the run and run the ball. There's no question about what we do – we spend a lot of time practicing and preparing for what we see each week," McCauley said. "Our kids have the mentality that we're going to run the ball regardless, so we're going to stop and run and run the ball."

There is also a desire to get as many players on the field as possible, lessening the load on just 12 or 13 guys on both sides of the ball. The idea is to keep players fresh for four quarters. For a team predicated on speed, that could be trouble late during hot early-season afternoon games.

Elmira will open at home against Oneonta on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., followed by three straight road games in Endicott, Johnson City and Horseheads. By Week 5, the Express will be back home to face Corning. Week 6 will see Vestal coming to Elmira, followed by an away game in Ithaca and the regular-season finale in Binghamton.

Everything seems to be changing in Elmira football for the better, and McCauley believes he has the horses to take the next step this season.

"One of our strengths is our work ethic – our guys hustle and work hard in everything they do. We haven't had any bad practices yet. We're going to gain experience and gain momentum as the season goes," he said.